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Currently, when (and if) the update plug-in is loaded, it calls the site manager to set the proxy settings from its private preferences. The site manager, in turn, sets the global System properties. There is a way to remove these System property settings, but it is not used. If I am not mistaken, it seems that if the user opens the Update perspective or opens the preference page having to do with proxies, the System properties will be set and the proxy server will be used for all http connections. Otherwise, the System properties won't be set and the server won't be used. From the perspective of other plug-ins making http connections, this behavior is random. From first principles, if a configuration parameter has system-wide impact it should be a general Eclipse feature, not confined to an optional plug-in, and its behavior should be deterministic. Any proxy settings should be usable for http pages loaded from Help or by any other plug-in. Secondly, it seems wrong that the current update manager code will blithely override any System properties set on the command line. When a user of my plug-in reports that Update's proxy settings don't work for my http connections, what am I to tell them? To open the Update proxy preferences first? To specify the properties on the Eclipse command line, but be sure to use the same values in the update settings, as update will clobber the command line settings if it is ever used? As I said, random. This is related to bug 30815, but that seems headed in the direction of the Absolutely Perfect Proxy Solution including authentication, which makes it a down-the-road feature request. This is a bug. Update should not behave the way it does - update should not have anything at all to do with proxy settings - and it should be fixed before it gets any worse (some other plug-in provides its own proxy preferences page).
Bob, in 3.0 update will try to first use the settings passed on the eclipse command line, so it will not override anything. However, if the user changes them in the update preference page then they can set on System. It would be nice to have a generic, common networking plugin that other plugins would use, but right now nothing is in the plans. Help cannot use the proxy settings, because the client is the swt browser widget, and they pick up proxy settings differently. It would be nice if java could tap into system specific settins for proxies.
Thanks for the info. Checking the command line system properties would be an improvement. Common network plug-in aside, something still needs to be done to ensure that the proxy preferences are set reliably during startup and not just if the user happens to trigger loading the update plug-in.
A user advises me that the old way (below) of setting the proxy info via the command line no longer works. -vmargs -DproxySet=true -DproxyHost=<proxy_name>-DproxyPort=<proxy_port> (I don't have a proxy server to test this with myself so I am relying on a user report.) The same user reports that merely activating the update plug-in is not enough to get the proxy settings available for non-update connections. (I'm not sure why, looking at the code.) Please tell me how users can set up Eclipse so proxy servers work with other plug-ins. Thanks.
I think the proper parameter names (at least according to java) are: -vmargs -Dhttp.proxyHost=<proxy_name> -Dhttp.proxyPort=<proxy_port>
Yes, thanks. But according to the same user, this did not work, either.
How can I prevent proxy settings that are established in the "Install/Update" preferences from being used when trying to validate and connect to required libraries' Javadoc locations, which are internal to our network? Could a group of "ignore" address suffixes be added to the preferences page? Thanks, Mike
Bob: I went through the debugger and I can see the proxy system properties correctly set. I don't have a proxy site to test, but at least we're doing what java specs. It would be good if your user can provide more details. Mike: The only workround I know of is to save the proxy system properties before doing your validation, and set them back to orginal values after done. Note this could also be a workaround for the original bug report.
This is support that should be provided by core or by some other "commons" plugin. Moving to Core for comments.
Tested with 3.0.1 and the SWT samples from the Welcome page: The syntax in #3 works, and seems to do the same as setting the proxy in the Update prefs. The syntax in #4 needs a http.proxySet, then Eclipse picks it up as well. http.nonProxyHosts is documented to allow specifying exceptions, but I can't test whether Eclipse honors it. Just setting the proxy in the prefs is not enough to be able to download the samples (maybe because I am behind an authenticating proxy, don't have a simple proxy to test). If you are behind an authenticating proxy, you need to start Update and open a site once to enter your un/pw, then downloading the examples works.
see also bug 88017 for related request and discussion.
*** This bug has been marked as a duplicate of 88017 ***
